Keep Cool Records is an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

founded by Tunji Balogun, alongside Right Hand Music Group founder Courtney Stewart, A&R Jon Tanners and marketing executive Jared Sherman. The label is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, a subsidiary of

Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA) is the American arm of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. Headquartered in New York City, the company manages Sony's business in the United States. Sony's princ ...

History

Tunji Balogun began working with

as an A&R representative, where he signed and developed artists

Bryson Tiller Bryson Djuan Tiller (born January 2, 1993) is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He began his career in 2011 with his debut mixtape, ''Killer Instinct Vol. 1''. He gained mainstream recognition following the release of his 2015 single ...

GoldLink D'Anthony William Carlos (born May 17, 1993), better known by his stage name GoldLink, is an American rapper and singer from Washington, D.C. He gained recognition following the release of his debut mixtape ''The God Complex'' (2014), which was ...

, Khalid,

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), better known as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobea ...

, and H.E.R. He was also involved in the partnership with RCA and

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

that signed

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

, bringing

Cozz Cody Rashad Osagie, better known by his stage name Cozz, is an American rapper. He is signed to J. Cole's label Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. His debut studio album ''Cozz & Effect'', was released in October 2014. He has since rele ...

Dreamville Records Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas, Cozz, O ...

, as well as contributing in signing

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

to RCA. On April 9, 2018, RCA and Keep Cool announced the joint venture record label to sign and develop artists, promoting Tunji Balogun to executive vice president of A&R. Balogun spoke with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' about the deal saying: "I’m honored to be able to continue that legacy with the launch of Keep Cool. My passion is discovering and working with artists that are slightly left-of-center, and finding meaningful ways to organically build culture around them. Keep Cool will be a safe-haven for artists and creatives who want to do things differently." The same day, they announced the signing of Normani. In November 2018, they revealed the signings of

Lucky Daye David Debrandon Brown (born September 25, 1985), known professionally as Lucky Daye, is an American R&B singer-songwriter from New Orleans. He signed with Keep Cool Records and RCA Records to release his first two extended plays, ''I'' (2018) ...

and duo VanJess. On February 20, 2019, Keep Cool announced a deal with hip hop duo Freddie Gibbs & Madlib for their second album ''Bandana''. In May 2020, Keep Cool announced the signing of UMI to the label. In February 2021, Keep Cool announced the addition of Louisville-singer Marzz to the roster.

Roster

Current artists

Former artists

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

References

{{Authority control American record labels RCA Records Contemporary R&B record labels